Kondratenko O. Geostrategy of the Russian Federation: theoretical foundations and practical realization.

The dissertation studies the theoretical and methodological foundations for the formation and implementation of geostrategy of the Russian Federation on the regional (post-Soviet) and global levels. A comprehensive study of geostrategy of the Russian Federation has been done for the first time in Ukrainian political science by carrying out an in-depth theoretical analysis of this phenomenon as well as investigating the allocation of resources and the influence of the state’s internal affairs on this strategy. The pattern of Russia’s actions taken to extend its influence over both the post-Soviet states and the globe is demonstrated and proves its geostrategic ambitions to restore the status of a superpower and to take part in the formation of a multipolar world. The internal affairs of the Russian Federation actively influence its geostrategy and international behavior. The centralized system of Russian power, whose actions are marked by aggression and expansionist policies, is supported by virtually all strata of the present-day Russian society. The study reveals that the available resources of the Russian Federation are not enough to consider it a self-sufficient state which can aim at global influence. Constant depopulation, domination of the commodity sector in the economy, as well as the weakness of such an important resource as "soft power" prove it. Integration initiatives of the Russian Federation are one of the means of consolidating control over the post-Soviet states, primarily through the implementation of such political, economic and security projects as the CIS, EurAsEC, the United Nation, the CSTO and the SCO. Russia’s aggressive policy towards Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova is aimed at their destabilization and at the same time serves as an instrument for turning these countries into a "gray" buffer zone between Russia and NATO and preventing their integration into Euro-Atlantic organizations. However, such a strategy only alienates post-Soviet countries from Russia and makes them direct the vectors of their economic integration and security coordination towards the EU or China.